Snow Falling on Sand
by Misterida
Summary: Nearly a year after the death of Lucille Tracy and the family have been recovering well. That is until a weather change brings about snow fall. Maybe they weren't as healed as they thought. Same 'verse as Heartbeats and Alone.


New two-parter; this is set between Alone and Starlight Starbright.

Set in the Movie-Verse. Ages are: S 15, J 13, V 11, G 9, and A 4.

Disclaimer: check.

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><p>It was all dark in the big house. No one was stirring. Not even a mouse…. Well, technically that wasn't true. A little something was stirring. But it wasn't a mouse. The soft pads of little feet were the only sound in the dark pre-dawn quiet.<p>

The owner of the little feet plodded to the French doors in the kitchen and stumbled to a stop in horror.

A scream split the silence like a brick through a window. There was a second of stillness and then the sound of several footfalls thundering towards the stairs.

John had been sleeping on Alan's bed. He and Gordon shot towards the door, before either of them had really woken up. The practically collided with Scott as he powered towards the stairs. As they barged out of the door they were almost flattened by Virgil. The four brothers continued their frantic flight towards the source of the noise.

Alan ran to meet them and threw himself into Scott's arms. The smallest Tracy was sobbing hard. He hadn't cried like this in months.

"Hey, hey buddy." Scott soothed, rubbing gentle circles on Alan's back. "What's the matter?"

Alan simply shook his head still crying uncontrollably into Scott's neck.

"Is he hurt?" Virgil asked softly, leaning forward trying to get a better look.

John had the oddest sense he knew what was wrong. Alan's shaking finger towards the door confirmed his suspicions. John walked to the door and looked over the white fields.

It had snowed over-night.

"Scott." John called softly.

Scott looked up, away from Alan and walked forward enough to glance outside.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Repeated Gordon walking forward. "Snow!" He exclaimed in delight.

"No!"

Scott, John and Gordon turned, surprised by Virgil's outcry. Scott and John exchanged a look and then silently John took Alan from the eldest Tracy son.

Virgil had gone whiter than the snow outside and was shaking his head back and forth.

"No… No. I'm not…. I don't…"

With this articulation out of the way, Virgil turned tail and ran back up the stairs. Scott looked at John who nodded as he gently bounced the still crying Alan. Scott got to the top of the stairs just as Virgil slammed his door shut. Scott gently knocked on Virgil's door. There was no answer but Scott could hear Virgil's sobs. Scott gently pushed the door open.

"Virge?"

Again Virgil didn't answer. Scott quietly walked into the room and sat down on the bed, next to where Virgil was curled up under the duvet. Scott rubbed Virgil's back but didn't speak.

He knew that Virgil was still having nightmares about the event's that had happened just over a year ago, but they did not really talk about it. Scott and John had expected this sort of reaction from Alan when it snowed again but had not considered Virgil reacting a similar way.

By the time Alan had been released from the hospital following the avalanche, the snow had already melted and been washed away. Virgil, however, had stayed in the house for several weeks with the snowed piled high outside. Although, now that Scott thought about it, he couldn't remember Virgil willingly leaving the house during those weeks.

Slowly, Virgil wiggled out from under the duvet and into Scott's arms. Still neither of them spoke. They sat for several long minutes in a silence that only got heavier, until Scott knew that he had to say something.

"It's okay to be scared, Virge."

Virgil wiped his eyes furiously. He then took a deep breath.

"I don't want to lose them." Virgil said eventually.

"Lose who?" Scott said, although he had a pretty good idea who Virgil was referring to.

"Gords and Allie." Virgil said. He sat up straighter. "How do you do it Scott? I can't protect them, but I want to. I want to so badly."

Scott was almost lost for words. Virgil had hit the nail on the head exactly. Scott knew full well that he couldn't protect his brothers from everything in the same way that it killed him that he couldn't make this all better. He knew that John still suffered with what he had seen, Virgil was clearly the same, Gordon was saved from seeing anything but still suffered in that he didn't help, and suffered in watching his only little brother suffer. Alan had slowly been improving. Jeff's presence alone had helped, as had Alan's weekly visits with the recommended child psychologist.

Although certainly not the little chatter box he had been before the accident Alan had started speaking more, and his nightmares didn't seem as bad. He was still getting up in the night but it was normally only once a night, rather than several times, and he was not quite the limpet he had been. Already Scott was worried how the snow would affect all of his brothers but particularly the youngest Tracy, and now Virgil too.

Eventually Scott was able to coerce Virgil from his room and got his brothers in some semblance of order at the breakfast table. Virgil was sat with Alan in his lap. The eleven year old had recently had a growth spurt and was now more able to carry around his four year old brother than he had been previously. Alan for his part didn't require as much physical comfort has he had done previously but on this morning seemed quite content to sit curled up in the middle Tracy's lap. His thumb was back in his mouth and his ear was over Virgil's heart.

"Did he say anything?" Scott asked John anxiously.

John had decided that pancakes were in order and was slaving away over the stove. Scott quietly asked his question as he leant around John to get some plates.

"No. Nothing, not even when I asked him if he wanted pancakes." John said worriedly, his eyes glancing at the littlest Tracy and back to the frying pan. "He was back to hand signals."

Scott nodded and continued laying the table. He had feared this. After Alan's first assessment with the psychologist he had sat the rest of the family down and explained what might happen with the smallest Tracy son. Flashbacks and reverting behaviour were the two that had been considered most likely.

Breakfast was a quiet affair with hardly any conversation. Virgil was mostly silent too, except for trying to get Alan to eat. It was unsuccessful. Gordon was completely subdued and John and Scott both increasingly worried.

The five boys were sat on the sofa attempting to watch a film. They were failing. All were too wrapped up watching Alan who was now sniffling pitifully with his ear still listening to Virgil's heart beating.

"Boys?"

Jeff's voice and the slamming of the front door made the four older boys all jump. Grandma Tracy had gone back to see some friends near her old home and Jeff had gone this morning to pick her up and bring her back to the family home. In their concern the boys hadn't even really noticed the absence of their father. It seemed Alan wasn't the only one reverting back to old behaviour.

Jeff walked into the living room rubbing his hands together trying to warm them.

"Phwoar! It is cold out there this morning. The snow doesn't seem to be letting up either. Your grandmother is putting on some hot chocolate, would any - what's the matter?"

Jeff broke off mid-sentence looking at his children. Alan and Virgil were as white as sheets and the three others were watching them anxiously. Jeff dropped to his knees in front of Virgil and Alan.

"Boys, what is it? What's the matter?"

Virgil simply shook his head and Alan, for his part, simply buried his head further into Virgil's chest.

Jeff looked in askance to Scott.

"You know, hot chocolate sounds good." Scott said his voice sounding overly cheery even to him. "Johnny, do you want to come and give me a hand?" Scott's eyes drilled into John's before looking back at his father.

"Yeah, sure Scotty." Johnny said hauling himself to feet.

In the kitchen and in hushed tones Scott and Johnny explained the events of the morning. Within half an hour the harried Dr Rackham, the child psychologist, was knocking at the door. Jeff eagerly welcomed him in.

"Oh it certainly is no problem." Dr Rackham said as he removed his coat and tried to fend off the frantic attempts of Grandma Tracy's hospitality - when crisis strikes feed it until it leaves!

Dr Rackham took Alan up to Jeff's office where the two of them were occupied for almost two hours. The other Tracy sons were in a frenzy during that time. Scott didn't settle at all, but wandered… paced the entire time with a certain amount of harassing his younger brothers. John withdrew to "The Observatory", a small room in the basement, with Gordon in tow. They flicked on the planetarium that projected the stars and planets onto the ceiling. Virgil for his part didn't really settle exactly either. The middle Tracy son darted back and forth between his music and his art.

All the Tracy sons were so relieved and flocked around the youngest Tracy son when he and Dr Rackham came back downstairs. Dr Rackham directed Jeff and Josie to the kitchen and allowed the older boys a moment with the youngest. Dr Rackham peaceably accepted the coffee and cake thrust at him desperately by Grandma Tracy and the three adults sat down for a serious discussion.

"I have to be frank, Mr Tracy, that I had anticipated something like this. Not to this extent perhaps but it is normal for children of trauma to be set back when faced with reminders of that trauma."

"Will this affect him for the rest of his life?" Asked Jeff, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth.

The doctor pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"That I cannot say. Yet. It is a possibility yes, but there is still much ground Alan and I need to cover before I could give that sort of a prognosis. I am more concerned at this point of the short term affects that this have."

"What do you mean?" Queried Grandma Tracy softly as she subtly pushed another muffin on to Dr Rackham's plate.

"Alan is at a turning point in his recovery. This weather change worries me; the setback for a one off event is relatively small but a whole seasons' worth of this weather could be incredibly damaging and the effect on Alan may leave us in a situation worse than when I first met with you."

Jeff sat back in his chair fiddling with his coffee cup.

"What exactly are you suggesting Doctor?"

"It's not exactly a solution nor is it ideal but at least for now I would suggest that you take Alan somewhere with a different climate. It wouldn't work for the long term, but children develop so rapidly in these early years that next year we could tackle this in a very different way. At the moment there is only fear and that is very hard to work with. I will have to start researching what we can do; I have never had a case quite as severe as Alan's but I think-"

"Wait just a minute, stop." Jeff interrupted sitting upright abruptly. "You think moving Alan away from this climate might help?"

"Yes, as extreme as it might be; at the moment that would be the best for Alan. I appreciate it's not really generally possible but… why are you smiling?"

Jeff and Grandma Tracy had turned to each other with raised eyebrows and quirking smiles.

"Dr Rackham, a couple of years ago I bought a research facility for experimental developments in rocket propulsions systems. That project has now finished and the research facility abandoned for the time being."

"What does that have to do with this?" Dr Rackham asked slowly.

"It's on an Island. In the Pacific Ocean."

"That could work. That could work quite nicely indeed."

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><p><em>And so it begins.<em>

_Please leave me a review with any feedback; it would be greatly appreciated._


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